Finding the "Magnificent Life" Right Where You Serve

My older sister owns a restaurant in Reno, Nevada. It is a place where more than "comfort food" is served, it is a place where God's comfort is poured out as well. Last night she sent me this story of what happened to her that day and it reminded me once again that "The Magnificent Life" is happening in our midst.

So often as moms we can mistakenly think that what we are doing (like making breakfast for the kids or cleaning breakfast up off the floor, like getting the kids off to school so that we can get ourselves to our part time job to help pay the bills, like running errands and taxying tweens from event to event, like getting groceries so that dinner can get on the table...) is mundane and not of much value. Yet when we "do everything as unto the Lord" and trust that He is "guiding us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake" then we can trust that even the littlest thing is of great worth. I hope you are inspired by my sisters' story and if you're ever in Reno go check out her little comfort cafe for some SWEET treats!

Blessings,
Tracy Klehn

Tilly's Tattoo

A little four-year-old PRECIOUS blonde girl came in with her mom today....she had her hair in a bun, and was dressed in all pink and white. Winter coat, skirt, sweater, shoes, etc. She was crying and looked really, really sad. Her mom said she had just gotten all of her four-year-old shots, and said she had been very brave. I looked at the little girl and nodded, then her mom told me her name was Tilly. I told her I had a Tilly too....Matilde, our prep cook, and introduced them to each other. "Tilly this is Tilly," I said. She was not crying anymore but still looked sad. I asked her if she wanted a tattoo. I had a whole stack of Fizzy Lizzy tattoos from the Fancy Food Show, from the fizzy juice we sell.

She nodded, and I asked her where she wanted me to put it. On her arm, she said. She still had her winter coat on, but wanted the tattoo on her left arm. She held it out for me. I unzipped her coat, rolled up the sleeve of her pink sweater, and readied the wet paper and the tattoo. I stuck it to her arm, and looked at her while I rubbed the paper, making sure to get a perfect application. She smiled, and wiped her eyes. I lifted the paper backing carefully, and voila! A perfect tattoo! She grinned, and her mom asked her what she wanted to eat. Tilly said a fluffernutter, a chocolate milk and a chocolate cupcake. Her mom said she was so brave today she could have anything she wanted.

As she ate all of the above with a slice of watermelon, it made me think about how very, very personal God is. I mean, a Fizzy Lizzy tattoo, that fine princess lunch, and someone to tell you how brave you've been. All in one place. I have been asking God to show me what my destiny is this week, as homework for the bible study I am teaching, what my role is. He told me yesterday. "These are my people and I want you to serve them," He said. "Take care of them for me." God gave me the space for DISH CAFE more than six years ago, right next to the main trauma center and oncology offices in Reno. So if that means a tattoo for Tilly, a chocolate milkshake on a Sunday for mom's friend who has been in the hospital for 2 weeks, tapioca for the masses, soup for the sick, and quiche for my friend Natalie's cancer fighting mother (whose head she had to shave today) then I will.

As Tilly was leaving, I told her Tillly was short for Matilde. I asked her if that was her name too." Nope," she said, "Mine is really Danielle."

Thanks Fizzy Lizzy for your wonderful juice, and for those tattoos!

Nancy Horn, Chef Owner

DISH Cafe & Catering
855 Mill Street
Reno, NV 89502
Monday-Friday 7am-2:30pm
775-348-8264

dishcafecatering.com

Hey you! Check out the blog at dishingup.wordpress.com

COMFORT FOOD FROM A MODERN CAFE

Change of Plans

We were putting the last few things in the car when the call came and our plans changed. All the football games were canceled for the day due to the fires that had begun the night before. We turned the television on and watched in shock as we saw fires raging, freeways shut down, homes destroyed and lives shattered. We unloaded the car and moved restlessly about the house, at a loss as to where to go from here. We were scheduled to drive about fifty miles away later that day to attend a wedding but soon received another call, this time from a young anxious bride concerned that we may not have heard about the fires and wanting to make sure we were safe.

Plans can change so suddenly can't they? If you live in Southern California perhaps your plans changed this weekend as well, maybe you even got a call in the middle of the night with the news that you needed to evacuate your house immediately; plans of a good night sleep swiftly changing to an adrenaline pumping drive to safety.

As I prayed this morning for the many people that have been displaced I found myself turning to the pages of a devotional that I was given as a gift just this week (thanks to my sweet friend Susan McCready). It is called Jesus Calling, Enjoying Peace in His Presence and is by author Sarah Young. In the reading for November 16th it says

As you look at the day before you, you see a twisted, complicated path, with branches going off in all directions. You wonder how you can possibly find your way through that maze. Then you remember the One who is with you always, holding you by your right hand. You recall My promise to guide you with My counsel, and you begin to relax. As you look again at the path ahead, you notice that a peaceful fog has settled over is, obscuring the view. You can see only a few steps in front of you, so you turn your attention more fully to Me and begin to enjoy My Presence.

The fog is a protection for you, calling you back into the present moment. Although I inhabit all of space and time, you can communicate with Me only here and now. Someday the fog will no longer be necessary, for you will have learned to keep your focus on Me and on the path just ahead of you. (Psalm 73:23-24, 1 Corinthians 13:12)

What a wonderful reminder and one that I hope encourages you, no matter how your plans changed during this season of your life. I pray that we all learn to lean in to the presence of Our Lord and Savior whether times are foggy from the weather or smoky from a raging fire.

Blessings Dear Ones,
Tracy Klehn

P.S. The WINNER of The One Year Women's Friendship Devotional by Cheri Fuller and Sandra P. Aldrich is KRISTINE WEATHERLY...YAY!!! Thank you to all who entered the contest...I hope to do more give-aways in the months to come!

Thoughts Amidst Wadded up Kleenex

Today I am "under the weather" or perhaps I should say "down for the count"? Whatever you want to call it...I have Vick's Vapor Rub smeared under my chin, wadded up Kleenex strewn about my legs, my hair looks like something from the eighties (pictured teased, messy with half a can of Aqua-Net--the fuchsia can of course) and my left eye will only open about halfway due to the swelling of my sinuses. I know you want to come over right now and hang out with me right?

So...on a day like today I am sitting on my couch and watching the movie I watch whenever it is autumn and I am feeling less than "springy." I am watching You Got Mail for the umpteenth time. What movie do you watch when you get sick? Do you have a favorite "feel better" movie? My friend Melissa just told me that Sound of Music is her "feeling sick selection" and that when Julie Andrews starts running up that hill she always bursts into tears and knows "Everything is going to be okay."

ANYWAY...I am digressing, which I will blame on the sinus infection. While I was sitting amidst my wadded up Kleenex and watching my "feel better movie" I was struck by a tiny little scene that I don't know that I paid much attention to before. Meg Ryan's character has just discovered that the chain book store is moving in around the corner and could possibly pose a huge threat to the business of her quaint little "Shop Around the Corner." So she sits at her computer and types her contemplations...

Sometimes I wonder about my life.
I lead a small life, well, valuable but small.
And, sometimes I wonder...
Do I do it because I like it or because I haven't been brave?
So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book when...
Shouldn't it be the other way around?


What are your thoughts? Do you see your life as small? Valuable?
I don't have answers for you today...just the question...

I do feel grateful today. Do you mind if I take a moment to tell you why?
I feel grateful that I have a home to live in and a couch to curl up on when I am sick.
I feel grateful that I have a husband who is willing to pick the kids up from school today and cart them to football and cheer leading so I can get better.
I feel grateful that my husband has a job that provides us with health insurance so that I can get some medicine to speed up this recovery.
I feel grateful that I do not have to "perform" to be loved...that Christ loves me just as I am...Vick's Vapor Rub and all...and whether I am living large or small! I am valuable to Him and you are too.

Blessings dear ones...I'd hug you but wouldn't want to contaminate you with my germs!
Tracy Klehn